Five cheerful cheese recipes

This is an Italian favourite that is traditionally made with mozzarella. I have used instead the delightfully creamy Stinking Bishop

1kg floury potatoes

4 egg yolks

60g unsalted butter

1 generous pinch ground mace

Sea salt and freshly-milled black pepper

1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Finely-grated zest of lemon

290g Stinking Bishop, (or 3 buffalo mozzarella)

For the coating

Flour

2 whole eggs, beaten

Dry breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Wash the potatoes, and put in a pan with plenty of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer until cooked. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, peel and mash them. Then beat in the egg yolks, butter and seasonings. (If you make this recipe with mozzarella, add 30g of Parmesan to the potato mix).

Mix the parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Cut the cheese into 12-14 pieces, and roll in the parsley mix. Divide the potato mixture into 12-14 parts, and mould each part around a cheese-and-parsley package. Roll each cake first in a little flour, then in beaten egg, then in the breadcrumbs. Deep-fry in hot oil until golden-brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen roll and serve at once.

Cheese soufflé

A great classic - and really easy.

1-2 tbsp freshly-grated Parmesan

85g unsalted butter

64g plain flour, sifted

430ml milk

A good pinch each of salt, milled black pepper and nutmeg

7 large, very fresh eggs

130g Cheshire or Cheddar, grated

First off, grease a 1.2-litre-capacity soufflé or charlotte mould with a little butter, and dust with grated Parmesan. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Let the mixture foam for a minute or so without colouring, then put to one side. Boil the milk and pour it over the roux, beating with a whisk until smooth. Beat in the seasonings, return to a moderate heat and stir continuously until the sauce thickens, taking care that no lumps form. Cook the sauce for a minute, then remove from the heat.

Have ready a large, scrupulously cleaned bowl. Separate the eggs, adding the yolks one at a time to the sauce and the whites to the bowl. Keeping the sauce warm, beat the whites, with a pinch of salt, into stiff peaks. Fold a large spoonful of beaten egg white into the sauce and then fold in the grated cheese. Gently fold in the remaining whites. Decant the mixture into the mould, and shake lightly to settle and smooth the surface. Put into the oven, reduce the temperature to 190C/375F/gas mark 5, and bake for 35-40 minutes, until puffed and beautifully browned. Serve at once, as soufflé waits for no one.

Gougère

The Burgundian classic is made with Gruyère. Try making it with a good mature Cheddar instead.

85ml unsalted butter

284ml cold water

114g plain flour

4 very fresh eggs

57g grated Cheddar or Gruyère

57g freshly-grated Parmesan

Sea salt, milled pepper and nutmeg

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6. Put the butter and water into a pot, and place over a medium heat until the butter has melted. Increase the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Sift the flour, beat it into the pot and stir continuously until the mixture adheres to the spoon and leaves the side of the pot with no resistance. Remove the pan from the heat, and crack an egg into the dough. Stir the mixture to incorporate the egg, and repeat thus with all the eggs. Add the grated cheeses and seasonings.

It is best not to linger and let the pastry sit, so scoop it into a scrupulously clean piping bag. Line baking sheets with silicone paper and pipe little mounds about 2cm wide and 1cm high (if you do not have a piping bag, use a teaspoon to make the little dollops). The more fastidious cook may wish lightly to glaze the surface with some beaten egg yolk. When the dough has puffed and risen, prick the puffs with a sharp knife and return to the oven for a further three to four minutes. Serve swiftly.

Potted cheese

A use for an excess of cheese, which eats well with a fine ham and bread.

500g old Caerphilly, Cheshire or some such

250g unsalted butter

20g freshly-ground mace

120ml sherry or Madeira

Slice the cheese and butter very thinly. Pound together the cheese, butter, mace and alcohol. When you have a smooth paste, decant into a bowl and cover with cling-film. Leave to sit for a day, then use in thin slices.

Toasted cheese sandwich

1 loaf proper white bread

Unsalted butter

Dijon mustard

Lots of Lancashire or Caerphilly

A little finely-chopped onion

Anchovies (entirely optional but highly recommended)

A fully-charged pepper mill

Cut the bread into generous slices and toast well on either side. Liberally butter the toast, and add a light spreading of mustard. Pile on the grated cheese, and spike with a little chopped onion and plenty of freshly milled pepper. Lay on an anchovy or two, and place under the grill until good and melted. Sandwich the two pieces together and eat at once. Repeat until sated.